Of love and the Quarries
by Strawbaby909
Summary: Ludwig Beilschmidt is a new parol officer at Auschwitz, he finds himself questioning the things he's been taught at the Hitler's youth when he meets a friendly and unique Italian named Feliciano Vargas who digs holes at the quarry. Determined to set him free, Ludwig betrays his brother's words and the Nazi code to save the boy with the pink triangle badge. {WWII Gerita}
1. Chapter 1

Ludwig Beilschmidt was assigned to keep watch of the slaves from the concentration camp dig out in the quarries, this job was needed to see who was fit to stay alive and who was not.

He never really understood why these people were so horrible that they needed to be tortured in these kinds of places, He never really was phased by the lectures in the Hitler youth schools.

However, he was a pure-breed German. Before his older brother left for war he told him he should be thankful for his heritage and he shouldn't question anything about the concentration camps out loud.

There wasn't much to see at all, just a bunch of skeletons throwing axes and shovels into the ground. Digging out stone and other materials.

One boy in particular was rather skinny, he noticed this because he was the slowest out of everyone else.

The boy let out a large heave then found himself completely at loss for breath. His honey brown eyes met up with Ludwig's with complete fated contact.

_'__this is your chance' _thought Ludwig _'address your authority, he's lesser of a person than you'. _

"What are you looking sat?" he bellowed "get back to work".

"R-Right, sorry sir!" the boy yelled back, throwing his axe back in the air then throwing it back to the ground, intending the hard earth. But yet, their eyes met yet again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Ludwig asked.

"No reason" the boy apologized "It's just, you look different from everyone else".

"In what way?"

"Even though you look strict and scary, you have a softer look to your face. I like it, you look like a nice guy. And I haven't really seen any nice faces in a while" the boy's eyes drifted towards the ground but back at him again.

"What's you name?" Ludwig questioned.

The boy froze in absolute fear, he had no idea why.

"I just want to know your name" Ludwig said in a softer tone.

"F-Feliciano Vargas" he finally responded, then in a small pitiful voice he pleaded, "please don't kill me…".

"Don't worry, I won't" Ludwig told him "but you better get back to work before someone else does, I guess".

The next day, Feliciano was back on quarry duty, looking even more skinny and sickly than before. But he was there, and extremely happy to see him.

"Hello again sir!" Feliciano greeted him in his heavy Italian accent, "I can finally ask you for your name".

"It's Ludwig, Ludwig Beilschmidt" he said "nice to see you again too, Feliciano".

"You can just call me Feli, if you want" Feliciano offered a nickname to him, "I understand my name is kinda long".

"Feliciano is fine with me, it's not too hard to pronounce" Ludwig denied any 'buddy-buddy' names.

"Your saying it wrong though" Feliciano chuckled, he set down his axe and leaned on to it in exhaustion. Yet he smiled a bright smile .

"I'm not Italian, I'm German".

With that said, Feliciano's smile faltered. "…Right" he agreed "you're German".

The next day Ludwig walked in with some of the higher ranking officers to exchange out dinner to the male prisoners.

He saw the little redheaded Italian once more, sitting down and eating his fill of bread and potato soup.

"I'll be calling out a list of prisoners to march along to the showers this evening" the officer announced "Lukasz Bosko, Gabriel Keijek, Leon Hitzig".

As he listed out the names few of the men stood up, not knowing where they were going or what would happen to them. During the whole listing, Feliciano was shaking of nervousness. In the end his name was never called.

They marched up and left and in was time to call out bed time. It was absolutely disgusting how many of the men had to share beds with people it looked like they didn't even know, and to make things worse the bed was so horribly tiny.

A little boy was crying in the middle of the floor, crying out in polish.

"Tata! Tata!" he bellowed.

"Shut up brat! Ruhig!" an Officer kicked the boy's side "go pick a bed already and just shut up!".

Feliciano ran out and grabbed the child, shielding him from anymore of the man's kicks, he even took a few hits for the boy. His arm was already visibly bruising from the first two.

"I'm sorry, sir" Feliciano apologized, bowing his head to show just how sorry he was.

"Come on bambino, you're going to sleep with me, sì?" he whispered in a loving voice as he was just barely able to support the child's weight in his own arms. Feliciano made room for the boy in wood pallet they called 'bed'.

The day after that Feliciano and Ludwig made it a habit to greet each other out on the quarry, Feliciano however didn't seem to happy.

"How are you today?" Ludwig asked.

"The boy disappeared today, his dad never came back either" Feliciano stated simply, "I think I have an idea of where they went too".

"Where do you think?"

"To the pile of dead bodies outside".

Ludwig had to admit, that answer was obvious. But how they were able to dispose so many people so fast was still questionable to him. He had only been put up at concentration camp duty for a few days.

"You know those showers, sometimes they aren't showers" Feliciano told him "sometimes they spray out water, other times they just…Something with poisonous gas or fire, it kills them".

"They ruined Germany, it's just justice…Isn't it?"

"Now how do you think a little boy like him could ruin Germany! What did _I _do that ruined Germany?! The answer is simple, Ludwig. None of us did, you're being tricked" Feliciano raised his voice.

"You listen here, I may be new but I am a god damn officer and you can't talk to me that way!" Ludwig laid down the social status.

"Everyone here is brainwashed! You're young, aren't you? I bet you went to the Hitler youth-"

His talking stopped as soon as a gun was pointed straight towards his head.

After that, they didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day. Until for the first time, guilt ate away at Ludwig's head so he decided to sneak into the sleeping quarters to apologize to a prisoner.

He tiptoed through the sleeping area, it was absolutely unbelievable how people could sleep like that. He scanned for Feliciano through the dark, but his face and redhead spoke out to him over the rest. Once he found him he poked his soft, thin cheeks.

Feliciano nearly had a heart attack right there, looking up at what looked like an ordinary but terrifying German officer.

Germany pressed his index finger on to his lips to tell Feliciano to be quiet, then he offered an hand and gently slipped Feliciano out of where he slept. They ran outside together.

Feliciano was shivering outside in only his stripped prisoner clothes.

"Luddy, what is it?" he whispered in a hoarse voice.

"I just, I had to apologize okay. Your right, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" Ludwig explained "so tell me the truth, from what you've seen with your own eyes".

They sat down in the back dumping area outside the camp, among the piles of dead, decaying bodies. Feliciano was so cold he had to sit in Ludwig's lap, with the heftier man's arms around his body.

"As far as I heard from Italy, and that wasn't much because I was living in Venice at the time which is the part of Italy that was in the axis, is that Hitler promised many things to bring Germany back to power but he also wanted to rule as a dictator. He wanted someone to blame so he blamed the jewish, and then he eliminated anyone who wasn't what he thought was perfection" Feliciano said, "you know who he thought was perfect? Germans with blonde hair and blues eyes" he pointed towards Ludwig's own face, for Ludwig exceeded all of the requirements.

"That's sick" was all Ludwig could say.

Though he got his explanation, Feliciano and him continued to talk for the rest of the night until the sun just barely started to rise.

"I've got to get back or they'll kill me" Feliciano said, sitting up and shivering in the cold air yet again, "It was really nice getting to talk to you so personally, Ludwig. I haven't felt so connected to someone in a long time".

"Of course" Ludwig smiled "I'll see you again".

As Feliciano turned to return back to the torture chamber he was forced to work in, Ludwig caught a glimpse of the tag on his stripped shirt.

Feliciano was number 22413, with a pink triangle under it.

He swore he'd remember that number and unique symbol, for he _was _going to get Feliciano out of there.

* * *

**_Welp~ I'm trying out a really dark topic but I love the way it's going so far. BTW I borrowed Feliciano's number from an actual gay prisoner in the holocaust. The pink triangle represents homosexuality. Ludwig doesn't know yet, but Feliciano is in the concentration camp because he's gay. _**

**_I really hope you read and review~ I would appreciate it ^_^ _**


	2. Chapter 2

Feliciano was starting to look more and more sickly everyday Ludwig visited him out at the quarries.

He couldn't tell if he was sweating because of the heat (which it wasn't very hot out at all since it was fall) or because he was possibly burning up from fever (which did seem possible).

His sleeves were rolled up as he throw the axe into the hole he had worked on, at the angle Ludwig was at he could see Feliciano's tattoo, it was small but it was easy to spot out on his pale skin.

He actually hadn't even noticed Ludwig was standing there, he was so caught up in work.

"Good morning, Feliciano" Ludwig started out their annual conversation.

Feliciano's bright smile came back as he saw Ludwig, "good morning to you too! I didn't even see you there, sorry!".

"It's alright, your working hard. That's good, right?" Ludwig said as he folded up his arms, he gave a small smile. It felt weird though, smiling…It was definitely something he didn't do often at all.

"Yeah, It's good" Feliciano said "you think I'm good at working?".

Ludwig nodded.

"That's great! I can't wait to tell my brother when I see him again, he would never believe me but still. Someone finally said it!".

Feliciano was a bit too positive for his own good, but that's not necessarily horrible. If he's certain he's going to see his family again and has no doubts, he'll definitely escape the holocaust.

"Who's your brother?" Ludwig asked.

"His name is Lovino. He's in the Italian resistance army, I think he's currently living in Naples. I haven't seen him in a long time" Feliciano replied "the nazis took me while we were still living together, Lovi always talked about joining the resistance so I can only assume that's what he did. I can't exactly write to him or anything".

"I have a brother whose a nazi too, he's fighting in the war though" Ludwig conversed "never heard of him either".

"War is a wicked thing, Ludwig. It kills people even if they don't die on the battlefield" Feliciano inferred, whipping the sweat off his forehead.

"You've got that right, I hope it ends soon. So people can go back to living" Ludwig added on, he found himself wanting to change the topic to grow attention to Feliciano who was sweating in the cold.

"Why are you sweating so much?" he asked.

"I dunno, just am" Feliciano shrugged it off.

It wasn't something to just ignore, getting sick in the concentration camp was bad business. Feliciano was a fragile man who was able to survive for so long because he worked hard. If he had a downfall he could end up in the growing pile outside.

Feliciano dug in a quarry quite separated from the others, instead of digging with other people on the far end of the quarries, he dug right beside Ludwig's post.

Ludwig maneuvered himself through the barbed wire separating them, not even caring that he was getting cuts from the sharp fence.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed a very alarmed Feliciano, he looked side to side seeing if anyone else saw the officer leaving his post.

"I'm going to help you" Ludwig stated simply, he held out his hand to Feliciano. "Hand me your axe".

Feliciano exchanged the tool and Ludwig immediately started to heave it towards the ground and back. Creating a bigger hole a lot faster than Feliciano could manage.

While he finished off Feliciano's work, the Italian kept watch to make sure no one saw such a strange gesture come from a Nazi.

"I think I found some coal down here, big chunks of it" Ludwig said, placing the rocks near Feliciano's foot. "Hand that into your officer and you should be off his watch for a while".

"God, thank you Ludwig" he praised him, nearing to tears. He sniffled and whipped his eyes, giggling at such a nice favor his friend did for him.

"I'm not having you killed anytime soon okay" the German said, flashing his own version of a smile.

Ludwig crawled through the barbed wire to his own side, separated from Feliciano who returned to his hard labor. After his quick break, he seemed more motivated to dig up as much as he could from his hole.

He worked for a strait half hour while still chatting with Ludwig until the officers blew their whistles and called for everyone to return to camp.

"Thank you again, grazie" Feliciano praised him one last time before walking towards the hell house he was forced to live in.

Ludwig said goodbye to prisoner 22413 with the pink triangle badge, yearning to see him again already, even before the red head had come out of view.

It really was strange, their friendship.

Ludwig found himself excited to return to his horrible work, not to see the pain and suffering of innocent people, oh no. He was excited to go to his isolated spot on the quarry lookout to see Feliciano, digging away alone.

"Beilschmidt, get over here. We wanted to teach you something new" a high commander named Kurt yelled at him, "we think you've done a good job, so mine as well take you higher on the ranking charts since all you've done is work on parol".

"Ja Kommandant" Ludwig spoke with respect and followed the man towards the camp.

"You want to hear some good news, boy?" the man asked him.

"Sure"

The Commander slipped him a letter, "It's from your brother, Gilbert Beilschmidt. It's private so I didn't read it, it's for you. I assumed it was good since it came with his name on it, but you never know if it's a goodbye letter or not".

Ludwig unfolded the letter to read it out in perfect German.

"Lieber Bruder…" he started out, but as he read on it made sense as to why Gilbert wrote such a private letter.

_'__Ich weiß, dass es schwer aber halten Sie Ihre Unschuld' _

Which meant in english, _I know, it's hard but keep your innocence. _

The rest just seemed to translate itself.

_'__I never wanted you to get mixed up in all this shit. If you were ever wondering why your were enrolled into the Hitler youth well here it is. I was going to lose you if I didn't teach you Hitler's was, luckily you're a smart boy and I know you won't be brainwashed that easily. I heard that you've been appointed to work at the concentration camp so I can only assume you've seen a lot already. Concentration camp is just a nicer way to say death camp. Don't let them change you and please, if you can, please keep your innocence. i don't think I can live with myself if I just let my little brother go off and kill people. Also, please don't think bad of me because I'm a nazi. I'll have you know I joined because they threatened my family, they threatened to take you away from me. If I survive this war, don't remember me as a bad person. Just know I tried my best. Be good, I love you. _

_-Your big brother, Gilbert'_

Ludwig inhaled a deep breath, biting the inside of his lip.

Germany really was under the rule of a horrible person, and to think he thought he had seen enough of the horrors but there were so many more layered under it.

"Was the letter okay?" Kurt question.

"Oh…Ja" Ludwig answered.

They walked up to a big metal chamber, a few officers were at the top of it.

"We're going to teach you how to use the gas chamber" Kurt said, leading Ludwig up to the top. "What you do is insert the container of zyklon B gas into the valve. Then once all the prisoners are inside you turn the handle and it releases it into the chamber. It doesn't take too long to kill them, think you can do that".

"Your…Asking me to kill people?" Ludwig choked out, it was almost like some cruel twisted fate. After his own brother stuck at war begged him to keep his innocence he is asked to kill hundreds of people.

What made it worse is the group of prisoners lined up and walking towards the chamber.

Amongst them was Feliciano.

"Here they come now, you better get ready Beilschmidt" the commander said, motioning to the container of gas.

"Wait, but why is prisoner 22413 in the group?".

"Who?"

"The one with the red hair, prisoner 22413" Ludwig exclaimed, not even daring to say Feliciano's friend in front of such a person.

"He dug up more coal than anyone else out in the quarries, I saw it with my own eyes. He's still useful!" I practically pleaded.

"Why do you want to spare someone like _him?" _the commander exclaimed, completely disgusted.

"Out of everyone in that group, I can assure you he's someone to keep alive. He's a hard worker" Ludwig hastily convinced.

"He looks too pale and feeble, but if you say so" the commander eventually gave up, he then shouted to the officer next to him to take Feliciano out of the line.

"Nehmen den Jungen mit roten Haaren aus der Leitung!".

Soon after the officer hurried down and grabbed Feliciano's arm, they talked for a bit then they dragged Feliciano out while all the others piled into the chamber.

"You got what you wanted, now fill up the gas already" Commander Kurt mumbled, "You should also keep in mind that saving prisoners like him is going to ruin what your commanding officers think of you".

That was it, he blew his chance of being liked and there was no way he could convince his way out of killing the people in the chamber.

Slowly and regretfully, Ludwig put the zyklon B into the valve and then turned the leaver. Muffled screaming and thumping came from inside the chamber, scratching of nails could be heard on the side of the metal walls.

He just killed innocent people with families and a life they would never get to go back to and at what cost?

Saving Feliciano.

He couldn't say saving Feliciano made him any better of a person, but it made him feel a lot better that he saved the one person he cared about most instead of killing him along with the others.

He had committed a sin, but it only gave him motivation to do something good.

Prisoner 22413 would be a prisoner no more.


	3. Chapter 3

Ludwig decided that he would use the next shipment of prisoners to the gas chamber as my chance to free Feliciano.

Ludwig had talked to him briefly at the quarry where we usually met that he should gather up a brigade of people to create a mass escape, and that he would pretend to chase him until we left sight.

Feliciano of course was more concerned about the other people who's lives were at risk if he decided to deliberately cause chaos. Since Ludwig was helping him and only him escape, no one else would have an actual nazi guarding them.

"My main focus is you, Feli" Ludwig told him.

He giggled, his thin face scrunched up in a huge smile.

"What are you laughing about?"

"You called me Feli".

The German smile for a bit, but then could smile no longer once another German guard decided to stand right next to him and watch Feliciano work on his little isolated area.

"Ich werde Sie noch heute Mitglied" the man told him in German, obviously so Feliciano wouldn't eavesdrop. He had said that he would be joining Ludwig in watching Feliciano dig, since obviously they were suspicious in him sparing the Italian's life.

"I don't think he can speak English" Ludwig stated "I mean, there's nothing wrong with our native tongue, It's just now that I learned English I would prefer to keep with it".

"Nothing wrong with that then, boy" the German guard chuckled "I get what you mean, English is the best universal way to communicate, it's best if we stick with it for now".

Ludwig glared and Feliciano, giving him a little wink so he would know to go along with it. Feliciano winked back and then proceeded to pretend he spoke only Italian.

"So, I heard you actually spared this boy from the gas chamber" the guard stated "now why would you do that, you know what he is don't you?".

"Well yeah, It's just…I thought we could get more use out of him. He's actually quite good at digging, he doesn't dig all together like the rest of them. He works on his own holes and he digs up a lot of coal" Ludwig explained to him, "out of anyone to kill, I thought that he should last longer".

"You've got a weird preference there, cause he looks as useless a sack of potatoes" the man bluntly insulted Feliciano in front of him.

Feliciano pretended he didn't hear the insult or the conversation of sparing him and continued digging.

"He looks too…Sick" the man described him "just plain sick, like he'll keel over soon".

Ludwig decided to keep quiet and let the man talk. "You know, he's still on the list for being gassed and cremated. I don't think there's anymore you can do for him now. Besides, boy, you're a nazi. We eliminated everyone who isn't fit in this world, and he isn't fit. That's that".

"Your absolutely right sir" Ludwig told him without much emotion at all.

"I'm glad you agree, boss has been worried you were growing feelings for him" the guard put his hand on Ludwig's shoulder, patting his back like a father would after giving his son a serious talk.

"I'm going to get back to my post, auf Wiedersehen" the man bid him goodbye.

"Auf Wiedersehen" Ludwig said as well.

"Can I talk in English now?" Feliciano whispered.

"Ja, go ahead" Ludwig said. He felt a pang of guilt, having to talk about Feliciano with barley any emotion or sympathy at all.

"I…Didn't know that march was towards the gas chambers" Feliciano said quietly and hesitantly, "I thought it was for a real shower, that's what everyone else was saying. I didn't understand why they pulled me out of line but…That was you saving me".

"Feliciano, I have to get you out of here. You don't belong in a place like this" Ludwig admitted "I had killed the rest of the people in the gas chambers in exchange to ale you out of it. I may have killed innocent people but it sure feels better than killing you along with them".

"God, Ludwig I'm sorry" Feliciano's axe dropped into the ground, "It…It really was a useless effort though".

"Why do you say that?!" Ludwig questioned.

"I really am getting sick…A bit too sick".

Feliciano said he had contracted what he thinks is pneumonia. He had no way of knowing what it was exactly because no one actually cared for him in that god forsaken place.

He claimed he had run almost a constant fever, it went up and down all the time but never ended. He apparently gouged up a lot of mucus tinted with blood. Constant chills, dizziness, and breathing issues.

He was smart to suspect that it was indeed pneumonia due to his symptoms, but he had no way of caring for himself when he was barely given any food and he was forced to work all day.

This was just more motivation for Ludwig to set him free.

"Kommandant, may I help you deliver the march to the gas chambers" Ludwig asked Kurt, holding up his pistol. "I was informed that I needed a gun".

"Sure, come joint us" Kurt motioned for him to stand next to him, "what we need the gun for is for runners. Some people take chances and try to run out of line, we need to shoot them down".

That was the queue, he waited for Feliciano to decide when he wanted to release the queue to anyone willing to escape.

It was a moment of silence until an unprepared screech was let loose in the massive line.

"RUN!"

Then suddenly the line began to scatter, people running different directions.

"Was zum Teufel?!" commander Kurt practically screamed, shooting without aim absolutely everywhere.

"Kommandant, I'll catch the ones running!" Ludwig called.

"Scheiße, they're all running!" the man yelled in utter frustration, "just catch as many as you can!".

Ludwig ran towards the direction he knew Feliciano would run, in his own quarry hole. It wasn't too much of a great distance from where he was, he just hoped no one would see him and he prayed to the god hopefully up there that Feliciano wasn't shot down on his way.

But Feliciano could run devilishly fast when he needed to, almost as if it was an instinct.

"Feli" Ludwig called out as he worked through the huge piles of dirt to the little corner where Feliciano would work alone.

Feliciano's little face popped out of the hole, he was heavily wheezing from all the running.

"We'll go to my jeep out near the back, okay. Then we're out of here" Ludwig told him, pulling the italian out easily by his hand.

There was still screaming and gunshots from the other side of camp, since most people ran the other way which was closer to the exit. They had a bit more of a complicated plan, they would exit out of the barbed wire from the quarry end and exit into the area of south Poland called Rajsko where Ludwig parked his car just prior of the escape.

They climbed the hill like forest area from the quarry, crunching on the rotten dead leaves on the ground.

Feliciano was already completely out of breath and staggered behind.

Ludwig grabbed his arm to help him support himself, "come on Feli, we're nearly there".

"I'm trying…I-I really am, I j-just" Feliciano explained out in between shivers, 'I'm not sure how l-long I can keep walking, my mind is giving up on me, all I see is…fuzziness".

"Shit, you're going to collapse aren't you" Ludwig said in concern as he found himself holding on to all of Feliciano just trying to keep him up on his feet.

"He got a feel of his forehead and his hand almost reclined itself from the sudden heat. "God, your burning" Ludwig said, with that he scooped Feliciano up in his arms and decided to carry him the rest of the way towards the car.

The worst part was Feliciano felt as light as a feather, he carried little to no weight on him. And come to think of it, this was the first time Ludwig actually got a sense of how skinny the Italian really was.

"I'm sorry" Feliciano mumbled out from Ludwig's jacket, "I'm so useless, this is why I was on the list".

"Shut up, I saved you because I wanted to" Ludwig told him, he didn't mean to be so harsh but he didn't want Feliciano to think any less of himself just because he was unfit to walk.

Once they got to where he parked the car, they were completely off the hook. The Germans paid way more attention to the camp Auschwitz than the actual city it was located in.

A jeep wasn't the best car to transport someone who was severely ill, since it had no good covering. But he had one that was a bit more fit for driving than war. He had a cover to it and a pretty okay backseat.

Once he got in it he laid Feliciano down and pulled out a blanket from his trunk, after he tucked Feliciano into it he said "now Feli, this isn't going to be very comfortable. But I promise I'll drive carefully, it's going to be a little cold but that's what the blanket is for. I'm going to need you to be strong for me, okay?"

Feliciano nodded hazily, snuggling into the soft baby blue blanket.

"I'm going to drive us out of Poland and into southern Italy. It should be easy since I'm certified, as long as things don't go wrong we should be safe in no time. You're going to have to hide when we meet up with a nazi soldier and do your best to…Not get too sick on our way there, it's going to take more than just a few days".

"Okay" a weak response came from Feliciano.

He never thought in his whole life that he would be taking such a huge risk, but like he said over and over, Feliciano was worth it.

He could only hope and wish on the stars that Feliciano wouldn't die midway.


	4. Chapter 4

It would take about sixteen hours to get from where they were in Poland to Naples in Italy. He would have to get through at least one group of nazi guards to leave Poland and from their it should be smooth sailing.

Even though he was a nazi himself, it was questionable as to what word of him would be out there and whether or not Commander Kurt would realize he never came back.

His jeep was also small, how would he even be able to hide Feliciano?

All of those questions went away however when Feliciano started talking again.

"Lud…" a tiny voice called out to him "do you think some of the others escaped".

"I'm sure some of them made it out" Ludwig told him, again, no false hopes but he wouldn't want to add-on the stress of guilt onto him when he was already sick enough.

"I hope some of them are okay" Feliciano admitted "It's so cold…".

"Once we get out of nazi territory you can have my jacket" Ludwig told him "just hand in the best you can".

Feliciano buried himself in the blanket, but it was still a useless effort since they were driving and the cold air was constantly thrown against Feliciano's body. All the poor boy could do was curl up into himself as tight as he could.

At least he could tuck himself into the back where most of the car roof was.

Soon enough they met the checkpoint, "I'll be right back" Ludwig whispered "just keep quiet".

He left the car and walked up to the nazis on guard, they saw his badge and instantly smiled. Their conversation was held in complete German.

"Ihre Papiere" the taller and more broad man demanded, Ludwig handed him his certified papers and the inspection passed quickly.

"Sie scheinen neue, wo gehst du hin?" the younger man asked him. _(You seem new, where are you going?)._

_"_Ich lasse waren unterwegs Pflicht so besuche ich einen Freund in Norditalien" Ludwig replied. _(I've been left off duty so I'm visiting a friend in North Italy). _

_"_oh vorsichtig sein dann. Süditaliener sind nicht freundlich, immer aufpassen, für sie" the man handed him back his papers and waved him goodbye. _(oh be careful then. Souther Italians are not friendly, always watch out for them). _

Everything went smoothly, he returned to his car and Italy sat up throwing the blanket off. "Can we go then?" he asked.

"Yeah, its smooth sailing from here" Ludwig smiled contently, as did Feliciano. He started up the engine, but then once of the guards skipped up to his car quickly.

"Ich habe ich Ihr Auto überprüfen-" he said, but then stopped as he laid eyes on Feliciano who was dressed in stripped blue prison clothes.

Before the man could process what he saw, Ludwig slammed the gas pedal and sped away. Feliciano was thrown back by the unexpected force, but then immediately turned back to the back window to see the German screaming at them.

"What happened?!" Feliciano questioned.

"He went back to check the car and- Shit, we're going to have them on our tail" Ludwig answered through his teeth as they clenched together, he turned the car a hard left.

"We're close to Czechoslovakia, we'll hide out there for a while" Ludwig said "It's still nazi territory but I'm sure we can go out of sight, we really need to get you new clothes. Feli, make sure they aren't following us from behind and I'll find a nice place we can spend the night".

Feliciano sat on his knees and focused on what was going on at the back of the car.

"I think they're catching up, they had to have seen we went left. I think navel green car far behind us is them" Feliciano said.

"I'm going to take another hard left, hang on okay" Ludwig warned him as the car tires screeched loudly. Feliciano held onto the outer bars of the back seat of the car, still focused on what was behind them.

"They're still coming" Feliciano said with a tentative nervous voice.

"We're going to abandon the car" Ludwig ordered.

"What?!"

"I said we're going to abandon the car! Hold onto me" Ludwig jammed the gas pedal forward and made his way towards the back to grab Feliciano.

As he got a strong hold on him, he watched as the car took them which war towards a huge water fountain in the middle of the town they were in.

His arms wrapped around Feliciano's body and he stood up with him, "we're going to jump into the water for a safer fall and then we're going to run".

"Ludwig-" Feliciano tried to convince him other wise but he gave the gas pedal one more good kick to get it stuck in place then he slowly worked his way onto the roof of the jeep.

He jumped into the water fountain, maneuvering himself so he wouldn't land on Feliciano and he felt the side of his left arm meet the hard concrete under water, a muffled crash could be heard even from where he was.

He dragged Feliciano up and ran off, holding his hand as if his life depended on it.

Ludwig kicked open the door to an old tenement and they made their way inside. "Let's head up to the top" Ludwig suggested "they probably won't suspect we're spending the night here but it's safer anyway".

Feliciano was now shivering madly, it wasn't the best idea throwing a sick person into a fountain of cold water. He was shaking so much that his knees gave up on him and he tumbled to the ground.

He was, however, still conscious.

"I-I'm sorry Ludwig, I d-don't think I can move a-a-anymore" he stuttered out painfully.

"That's alright, I'll cary you up" Ludwig assured him, he gathered the boy into his arms and carried him like that up all ten flights of stairs.

"Now that we're not separated by wires, how about you and me get to know each other better" Ludwig suggested, wanting to keep Feliciano awake for as long as he could. In the state he was in now, he could possibly fall asleep and never wake up.

Feliciano giggled contently, obviously taking a liking to the idea.

"Well, um. I'm twenty years old and before I was sent to the concentration camp I wanted to go to art school" he said.

"Hey, what are the odds, I just turned twenty not that long ago" Ludwig stated.

"Really? So I'm older than you? That's funny! You look a lot older, and thats a compliment" Feliciano replied.

"Keep going" Ludwig assured him as they climbed the stairs, "about art school?".

"I never actually got to it because my grandfather died, he was the only parental guardian I had left next to my brother. It put a damper on things because we had to prove that my brother was old enough to take care of me and stuff like that…"

"What happened to you parents?"

"They died a long time ago, before any of this happened"

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay, it's nothing out of the ordinary. It happens to people all the time…".

As Feliciano slowly began to drift off, Ludwig brought up another topic.

"I always wanted to be an engineer, to build stuff" Ludwig stated and awaited Feliciano's response.

It was a bit delayed, but then the Italian said "You'd be a good one, you've got the muscle for it".

"Thanks" Ludwig smiled, once they got the the top floor Ludwig checked out all the rooms in hope of finding one with at least something good left behind.

The only thing he would find was a plain mattress in the middle of a completely blank room.

"I guess this is where we'll be sleeping" Ludwig said as he sat Feliciano down on the mattress.

"It's not too bad" Feliciano assured him, but he was one to talk for someone who was sick and freezing.

"There's no blankets though, how are we supposed to keep ourselves warm when our clothes are soaked?" Ludwig questioned.

"Body heat" Feliciano said "we can snuggle!".

"I'm not good at snuggling" Ludwig shook his head in denial.

"Please, I'm cold. Your cold. Let's just share body heart please?" Feliciano tried to persuade.

Normally Ludwig would just get up and leave to another room, but that would be cruel. Feliciano has been through enough, he's shivering as if he was having a seizure and by survival means, it was logical to cuddle for body heat.

"Sure, but what should we do about our clothes?" Ludwig asked him.

"I'd suggest taking them off but it'd be worse if we were naked since there are no blankets at all" Feliciano said.

"I'll use my jacket to cover us" Ludwig stated us he laid down, "now scoot over here".

Feliciano laid down and pressed up against Ludwig's waist. He looked up at him with the happiest look ever.

Dammit, he'd be completely heartless if he didn't admit that it was cute.

Feliciano let out heavy labored breathes, like he was suffocating but he wasn't underwater.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I think. It's been really hard to breathe lately, again, I think it's pneumonia" Feliciano said, "I feel like I need to cough but I don't want to cough on you".

"Just go ahead" Ludwig told him.

He sat up and turned away, a loud gag came from him. "I coughed up blood again…".

"Again?"

"Yeah it's no big deal" Feliciano said as he went back into his original position next to Ludwig.

"Feli, it's not good to cough up blood" Ludwig told him again.

"I know, it's not bad though I'm…fine" he said, his breathing slowing down. "Just…A little sick".

After that there was a long moment of silence, "Feli…" he called out to him, but no response came.

He checked to make sure he was still alive and sure enough he had just fallen asleep.

It wasn't hard to figure out that just a small case of pneumonia became a severe one. After god knows how long Feliciano was in the camp, he was probably neglected to the point where he couldn't even take care of himself.

By morning, the search for them should be over. If anything they were going to continue searching around north Italy, when south Italy was their main destination.

He could only pray to a god that Feliciano wouldn't end up croaking before they made their way to freedom.


	5. Chapter 5

Ludwig woke up to a peaceful yet damp warmness. Their clothes haven't completely dried due to being pressed together.

Though the chilliness of the room seemed to have gone away as both him and Feliciano were locked in arms under his jacket.

Feliciano was still asleep, it was best not to bother him for he probably got little to no rest in the concentration camp. It has only been one day since they escaped.

Ludwig checked outside the dusty window, few cars drove by no doubly nazi vehicles.

He couldn't help but wonder if anyone else in Czechoslovakia was even around, maybe in hiding. He assumed they were a high jewish population like Poland, no wonder the nazis took it. But how would he even know, he knew nothing of how the war started but only that Germany was getting back what they deserved.

He only hoped that they weren't searching for them, he hoped the car crash would end their suspicions. But then again, when there are no bodies that grows suspicions.

Ludwig concluded that he would search the rest of the tenement for any hope for clothes that Feliciano could wear over or instead of his prisoner uniform, it would depend on how sick he felt today.

He was able to scuff up some fall clothing, a lot bigger then Feliciano's size but good enough. A scarf, jacket and baggy jeans were left behind on the floor below them.

Ludwig took them as a generous gift and returned to his and Feliciano's room.

This time he had to wake him up, gently he ruffled the other's hair to gingerly lull him back to awakens.

"Buongiorno…" Feliciano mumbled.

Ludwig dropped the clothes onto the mattress, "put these on and we'll work our way to Austria from here, it should take us a day walking distance and then after that it'll be easy to get to Naples".

Feliciano observed the clothes. "I gotta take these off then right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's best…We'll have to burn it just to save your record" Ludwig advised.

"I've still got the tattoo though…"

"Well no one has to look at it".

Feliciano threw off his stripped clothes and re-dressed himself shakily.

Ludwig found himself still observing his badge, the number 22413 and the pink triangle under it.

"What does the triangle mean? I know the star means jew, but I always assumed the camps were filled with only jews" Ludwig questioned.

"That's what they want you to think, I guess" Feliciano said, throwing the oversized shirt over his head, "truth is there are many types of people in the camps. Mentally disabled, politics against the nazis, gays…".

Feliciano paused, his mind seemed distracted to the point where he had to pause to think of what he was going to say next and how he was going to explain it.

"I'm a homosexual and that's why they threw me in" Feliciano said "I was thrown in there even when Italy was still allied with Germany, I was just unfit".

"I'm sorry…" Ludwig apologized "I had no idea".

"Don't be, you've already proved to me so many times that you're not like them. At this point I don't think you'd throw me to the side just because I like boys" Feliciano said, then he shuttered. His body completely failing on him, he coughed painfully and hung his head down low so he wouldn't cough on Ludwig.

He definitely wasn't looking any better, in fact his face was bright red. Ludwig extended his arm to feel his forehead and it rent even hotter than yesterday.

"Wrap the scarf around you" Ludwig ordered, but instead did it himself. He was wrapped up so good that all you could really see of his face was his eyes.

"Once we get you in Italy we'll take care of that cold" Ludwig tried to lighten the mood, but he was in full-out panic inside.

He was getting worse every single day and he still wasn't able to treat him.

They left the safety of the tenement and braved the cold out doors.

Ludwig also found a hat but kept it to himself to cover up his blonde greased-back hair, Feliciano was more than covered and it would have made things worse for both if they ran into some guards and they recognized him as the traitor.

"How come no one is out, Lud?" Feliciano asked a very, very good question.

"I don't know, probably either hiding or already caught" Ludwig answered "there's going to be more people around Austria I promise".

"Nazis though…" Feliciano corrected him.

"Yeah…Sorry Fels, but they are everywhere nowadays" Ludwig gave a deep sigh.

They ran into a more populated area of Czechoslovakia, one place where the roads were still busy and people (mostly nazis) roamed around the street.

"Keep you head low and don't look at anyone" Ludwig advised.

Feliciano did as he was told and they walked for a good two hours. It was a pain, from where they were it would take only three hours to get to Austria.

Walking distance it would take them about two fucking days, it would be too difficult for Feliciano to keep up and the poor guy was sick and running on empty.

It was exhausting, Ludwig couldn't even keep up a good conversation with Feliciano because he had no energy to keep one up.

"That's it" Ludwig concluded "Feli, I'm going to get us a ride. We'll stop by in this bar and I'm going to call up an old friend that'll hopefully help us out".

He dragged Feliciano in, who was more then eager to finally get to sit down.

"Kid, you look far too young to drink" the bar tender pointed as as soon as he walked it, "Get out of here".

"I just need to borrow a phone, okay?" Ludwig told him.

The man looked down at his uniform and certified Nazi badge, he decided to not mess with supposed Nazi and let him in the back.

Ludwig motioned for Feliciano to come with him, he kept a good hold of the Italian's arm as he dialed the operator.

"Can you give Roderich Edelstein?" he asked, the woman on the line replied sweetly, "sure sugar!".

Moments later he heard the voice of his brother's old friend, "Hallo" the voice answered.

"Roderich, can you speak in english with me please?" Ludwig requested "I'm in a bit of a predicament and I don't want anyone significant to over hear us".

"Ludwig, is that you?" Roderich questioned "that's no way to greet someone who you haven't seen in over a year!".

"Don't get feisty, I really need you to pick me and someone up at Praque, Czechoslovakia at the…" Ludwig drifted off as he looked for some kind of sign as to what bar he was in, "well, we'll be outside".

"Wait, what?"

"I just escaped the Auschwitz camp with a prisoner, he's very sick and I need to get him to Naples so he can be free, I just betrayed the nazi code Roderich" Ludwig explained "me and him are going to get killed if you don't help us".

"I'm on my way, wait outside so I can see you" Roderich replied quickly "you're in Praque right?".

"Yes".

"I'll be there soon, just…Who ever you dragged out of there. Keep him safe".

He then hung up.

"We're going to get out of here soon, Feli" Ludwig smiled contentedly, but when he actually got a good look at the Italian…All of his relief vanished quickly.

He looked half-dead, just standing there. Dark circles under his eyes, thin pale skin showing off his bones. His eyes were half-lidded, as if he wasn't even really there.

"Feli..?" he asked carefully.

"Can I sit down?" he asked with a quiet voice.

"We'll sit down outside okay, you'll be okay" Ludwig was practically spurting out lies and fake reliefs.

He dragged him outside the bar, he planned on sitting him down against the buildings wall but Feliciano promptly collapsed. Ludwig was lucky enough to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Feli, you can't lose consciousness, now is a _really _bad time" Ludwig told him.

"m' Trying…" Feliciano croaked out.

"I know your trying, but you can't give up on me okay".

"…Why not?"

That question hit Ludwig like a bus.

"Why…Not?" he worded out.

"Why can't I just die and go to heaven…I'll be safe and happy up there" Feliciano said.

"You are twenty years old, Feliciano" Ludwig told him "you can't just give up on life like that! Your going to miss out on so much more if you die now".

"L…Like?"

"Like…" Ludwig tried really hard to think like Feliciano sincerely, "like eating your favorite food, or sitting near the fire all nice and warm when it snows outside, when you meet someone you really love, getting to kiss in the rain, getting married. You're going to miss out on all of that, Feliciano".

Feliciano's hazy eyes looked up at him with full attention.

"I know it's hard, being tortured for so long and getting so sick that you want to die…But we have a great chance here, to be free. I'm not going to let you give up on that".

"I'll keep going" Feliciano said "…Not for me though, for you".

Then Feliciano was out cold and dead to the world.

* * *

**_Okies~! Please read and review and offer me suggestions and such that would be heavily appreciated ^_^ Thank you to all the favorites and the followers and I'll try to get started on the next one before I leave for a little while. (Also btw, Feliciano's not dead…Yet, maybe not. It wouldn't be fun if you knew his fate~) _**


	6. Chapter 6

When Feliciano woke up everything was very warm and peaceful. The first thing he heard when he came back into consciousness was a lovely song he knew that was song by Vera Lynn…The White Cliffs of Dover, it was called.

_"__Therell be bluebirds over  
The white cliffs of Dover  
Tomorrow  
Just you wait and see_

Therell be love and laughter  
And peace ever after  
Tomorrow  
When the world is free"

It came to his attention that the song came from the radio…In a car?

"I have medicine at my house, you don't have to worry yourself too much" a voice called out.

"I'm just concerned okay, he's been through so much and he's completely unconscious, unresponsive!" a voice he recognized as Ludwig said "I'm no doctor but I know that's not good, Roderich".

"I…I'm fine" Feliciano called out to stop their fighting.

Ludwig turned back, shocked yet happy that Feliciano was awake agin.

"Did he wake up?" Roderich asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yeah, how do you feel?" Ludwig said.

"…Tired" Feliciano replied with one word only.

"You're going to be taken care of over at my brother's friend's place, so everything is going to be okay" Ludwig told him.

"So…You two aren't friends?" Feliciano asked.

"Well, uh…" Ludwig tried to think of an answer, "it's just he's kind of an interesting man and he knew my brother better then he knows me-".

"You should be more open to making friends, Lud…" Feliciano told him as he drifted back to sleep yet again.

_"__Therell be bluebirds over  
The white cliffs of Dover  
Tomorrow  
Just you wait and see.."_

…

"He's been out for a while" Ludwig pointed out as he sat by Feliciano's bedside, "are you sure he's really going to be okay?".

"Trust me Ludwig, I know a lot about illness and how to treat it" Roderich pointed out "He has a bad case of pneumonia, it's pretty bad but he'll make it".

"So it was pneumonia? He was right then" Ludwig said "he assumed that's what it was when he was still in camp".

"He's been in camp yet your doubting he'll live?" Roderich questioned "well, Ludwig I thought you were smarter than that. If he's made it this far to even escape then he's more than capable then surviving this".

"Why do you have to be like that" Ludwig groaned, turning his attention to Feliciano (who truthfully, he liked _a lot _better than Roderich).

"Child, please. I can assure you, you're the one getting pissy" Roderich told him "when's the last time you slept?".

"Yesterday, and I slept fine" Ludwig told him.

Roderich sat down in the next wooden chair next to him, he leaned against the bed with his arm but his eyes focused on Ludwig's features.

"You look tired, that's all" Roderich said.

"I don't want to sleep" Ludwig told him.

"Will you eat then, at least?" Roderich asked, the tone of his voice growing more concerned and careful, "You've got to take care of yourself, Gilbert wouldn't like to see you starving yourself".

"Yes please, we haven't been able to get our hands on some since a day ago and I'm not even sure if Feliciano actually ate" Ludwig said.

Roderich left and Ludwig was finally able to let go of the sigh he kept in. Roderich tended to rub him the wrong way, but he was helping them and Feliciano would have been far worse off if he didn't pick them up.

Feliciano had been asleep for a solid four hours since he passed out, not counting the few seconds he woke up in the car. It was definitely concerning, so Ludwig decided to run his fingers through Feliciano's auburn red hair.

He definitely needed to shower, it was knotted and a bit greasy, but if still felt miraculously soft.

Ludwig sat in complete thought, he had no idea how un-accepting the world was to fellow humans. Ludwig seemed to meet the requirements to be one of the perfect human race.

He was a German with bright blonde hair and piercing sky blue eyes, followed the Nazi code perfectly as well. But as he met Feliciano, his perfect stature seemed to fall apart.

He broke the nazi code, something Hitler and his brother wished for him to follow, it was unfollowable more or less unfortunately.

One of the perfect requirements was to be strait, yet after meeting Feliciano, Ludwig began to question that too.

A girl would be the ideal partner for him, correct?

One who was a beauty, great big breasts and a skinny waist. Someone he could show off.

However, something clicked between him and Feliciano. He could get along with Feliciano better then he could with absolutely anyone else.

He was perfect just the way he was. Funny, lively, adorable, and kind-hearted. The perfect display of innocence who decided not to give up on life solely for Ludwig.

Ludwig was new to love, but if he had anyway to describe how he felt about him and Feliciano, he would say he fell head over heels for him.

Feliciano began to wake up again, this time his eyes looked way more aware. He placed his right arm over his eyes to shield him from the sudden brightness.

"Welcome back" Ludwig welcomed him.

"Where are we now, Ludwig?" Feliciano asked, his eyes finally adjusting to the light.

"We're at Roderich's house in Austria" Ludwig told him "uh…Do you remember who he is".

"Your brother's friend, right?"

"Yep, that's the one. Actually, he should be done making us lunch so let's get something in that stomach of yours" Ludwig said as he gingerly lifted Feliciano out of bed and walked him out of the room.

"Hello" Roderich smiled sweetly (at Feliciano only), "I made some Kielbasa Potato soup with a side of bread".

He placed three bowls down on the table, of course he made some for himself.

"Thank you so much" Feliciano thanked him.

"By the way Feliciano, I've layer out some fresh new clothes for you on the couch over there. Couldn't really find any your size so you're going to wear some of Ludwig's old clothes when he was a bit smaller" Roderich said.

"You knew lud since he was little?" Feliciano giggled.

"I did, I knew his brother so when he came along I just _had _to know him" Roderich smiled devilishly.

Ludwig rolled his eyes, "go eat up, Feli".

Feliciano dug right in, Ludwig had to actually recommend him to slow down so he wouldn't choke. It was probably a long time since Feliciano had a good meal, or any meal at all.

He probably spent the whole time starving and didn't say a thing.

"So Feliciano, tell me a bit about yourself" Roderich said as he knelt on the island table across from where they sat.

"I'm twenty years old and I lived with my older brother for a while until we got separated. I was going to go into art school" Feliciano said.

"I'm sorry the war had to put back your plans for so long, I remain a music instructor to this day but I don't have much business now. Every little boy wants to be a soldier and every little girl joined in on the league of German girls" Roderich explained "It's sad, once war is brought up everyone forgets about such things as the arts and run mindlessly into the while mess".

"I know right!" Feliciano slammed his fists on the table, really getting into the conversation. "The nazis took all of Italy's hard work away too, the Mona Lisa, the altar piece of Viet Stoss, even the Madonna of bruges! Yet what do they want with art if no one ever gets to do it anymore…I honestly feel like they took it just to have something from Italy".

"I agree, child. This is a tough time for every country mixed up in it" Roderich agreed "hopefully it'll be over for the better soon enough".

"Yeah, I-" Italy turned around and covered his face "I-I need to cough".

"Go ahead?" Ludwig confusingly assured him.

A loud hacking sound came from Feliciano, blood splattered onto the hand he used to cover his mouth. Roderich and Ludwig stared at him in shock.

"I-I'm sorry, could I have a towel?" Feliciano asked politely, blood dripping off the curve of his mouth.

"That's not good" Roderich exclaimed rushing to get something to clean him off, he came back and gently whipped the blood from Feliciano's hand and face. "Feliciano, do you know if this is a bacterial or viral case of pneumonia? Depending on which kind it is, without proper care this could be extremely fatal".

"I-I d-don't" Feliciano tried to voice out but his lungs made him cough so heavily and painfully that blood would spurt out to the point where he couldn't stop.

"Don't panic" Roderich tried to assure Ludwig, who was already way passed the stage of initial panic, "or your going to make him panic too!".

"He could be _dying, _god dammit" Ludwig bellowed loudly.

"Just let me check his temperature, I can probably diagnose what kind it is after that!" Roderich old him, he got up and came back with his medical kit. They made Feliciano lay down on the couch, Roderich firmly held the thermometer in his mouth. No matter how much he wanted to cough, the Austrian kept his jaw clenched shut.

When he took it out, they had got a very unpleasant result.

"His temperature has gone up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit…".

"How is that even possible, with that temperature he should be dead…" Ludwig caught the concern right after he spoke and turned back to Feliciano who was just barley conscious.

"it's definitely bacterial or else his temperature wouldn't have gotten so high. Let's put him back in bed" Roderich said.

Ludwig lifted Feliciano into his arms and was glad to see that he was still subconsciously just hanging on. His shaking, sweaty hands loosely grabbed to Ludwig's shirt as he was carried back into the guest room.

Ludwig get Feliciano settled back in when Roderich came back with a glass of water and some aspirin pills.

"It's best to keep him hydrated along with keeping his fever down" Roderich told him, "Feliciano, I need you to swallow this pill. After that you have nothing else to do except rest, okay?".

Feliciano was still, and thankfully, holding onto the remaining consciousness he had and obeyed Roderich without a word.

"Hopefully we can at least pull his fever down to 103" Roderich said "keep a close eye on him, okay Ludwig".

"Got it" Ludwig replied.

Roderich left the room leaving Ludwig alone with the practically dying Feliciano.

"You were doing so good I had assumed your fever already went down, I didn't even think it could get that high" Ludwig told him.

At first he thought he was actually keeping up a conversation, but Feliciano didn't say a word. His eyes were open except they did not seem aware at all.

"Feli, can you hear me?" he asked.

Nothing.

"Feli, you have to get rest now. Please close your eyes" Ludwig asked him softly.

Still nothing.

"Feli..?" Ludwig's concern grew. As he went to check if he still had a pulse, Feliciano snapped back.

"Mi dispiace" he apologized "I…feel strange".

"It's alright, just get some sleep" Ludwig said.

"But where am I? And why are you here?" he asked.

"I got you out of the camp, remember? We're at Roderich's house" Ludwig told him.

"Roderich?"

"Yes"

"It's strangely comfortable here, the beds are always so hard…and cold" Feliciano began to talk about a completely different topic, "I like it".

"You're in a real bed, Feli" Ludwig tried to tell him "you're not in that camp anymore, you're safe I promise"

"Your wrong, I have to be dead…" Feliciano let out a weak laugh "I must be in heaven, you're even here too…Yes, I'm in heaven…"


	7. Chapter 7

The next few days were agonizing, Feliciano was very sick at this point. He constantly shifted in and out of consciousness yet every word that came out of his mouth was some delusional comment that made no sense.

Roderich sat beside his bedside taking his temperature, "His fever is down to 102, that's significantly better from the one he was running yesterday".

"That's still bad, and who knows…It could reach back up to 103 or even worse, I wish we could take him to a hospital" Ludwig grumbled, sticking with the obvious negative side.

"You know we can't do that" Roderich told him "Austria isn't safe, especially for an escaped prisoner and a traitor".

Ludwig's eyes shifted towards the floor, his plans didn't go as smooth as he hoped. It would take around 9 to 10 hours to get from Austria to Italy and he knew Feliciano wasn't in a fit state to travel.

The nazis were surely searching for the both of them, if they didn't get to south Italy fast they would surly execute both of them.

"I would for you to stay here but if they are looking for you they'll definitely come over here. My house isn't designed to hide people" Roderich said.

"Yeah…" Ludwig humbly agreed "so what do you think I should do".

"I think Feliciano is stronger then you give him credit for, I think you should take my car and drive over to Naples immediately while his fever is still at 102" Roderich suggested "when you get there you can surely admit him to a hospital there, they'll take care of both of you there".

"You think so?" Ludwig questioned.

"Definitely, South Italy is all allied and there is a resistance army there" Roderich said, "you'll just have to explain that you don't work for the nazis anymore. Seeing Feliciano, I think they'll believe you".

"Alright…Should I get going then?" Ludwig asked.

"Sure, just let me load up the car. You two have to eat and drink, you know. Feliciano needs to at least have something to keep him warm and a bottle of aspirin to keep the fever down" Roderich listed, he stood up and began organizing out the supplies in the kitchen.

"You still haven't changed at all" Ludwig chuckled under his breath, "you know I missed the days you and Liz visited, do you ever know what happened to her?".

"No, but hopefully she's doing good" Roderich said, "I missed it too, those little get togethers with the four of us. Though it was originally just supposed to be Gilbert, Elizaveta and me but your brother really was fond of you. He brought you everywhere".

When World war II started, everything seemed to grow fruitless and bland. He almost forgot the times when he was little and Gilbert met up with his old friends and got together to share breakfast.

They would listen to the radio loud but on Roderich's favorite station featuring singers like Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers.

Gilbert always loved to include Ludwig in everything he did. His friends were nice, interesting, but that was right up Gilbert's ally.

He never thought he missed walking down town with his brother and friends, buying a few bottles of pop and sitting outside watching the people walk by the street.

"I'm finished" Roderich announced, plopping down the medium sized duffle bag into his arms. "Here are the keys" he tossed said object on top of the duffle "now load up the car real quick and I'll help get Feliciano in safely".

Ludwig exited to the garage where a shiny black Ford Panel Brougham was kept. He placed the duffle on the passenger seat near the wheel and went back to retrieve Feliciano.

Roderich was knelt down next to where Feliciano lay, his hand on the Italian's burning forehead.

"Is he awake?' Ludwig questioned.

"Yeah, just barley though. I don't think he can stand up" Roderich noted.

"I can carry him, he's pretty lightweight" Ludwig said, he scooped Feliciano up in his arm and easily carried him over to the garage door where Roderich turned the knob for him.

"You can lay down here" Ludwig told Feliciano, putting him down in the back seat. He immediately curled up in a comfortable position down on the leathery seat. Ludwig threw a blanket over him and shut the door.

"Thank you for everything, Roderich" Ludwig shook the older man's hand "I'll have to see you, Gilbert, and Elizaveta again once this war is over".

"I'll make a promise, but I'm not quite sure if the other's are up to keeping there's" Roderich told him.

With a wave goodbye, Ludwig backed out of Roderich's house and left for Naples.

On the road, Ludwig enjoyed listening to the calming radio. In Germany, they weren't allowed to even listen. Ludwig always found it strange, why were they so limited to what they could and couldn't do.

That's when the visits to Roderich and Elizaverta stopped.

Just like before, music pulled Feliciano into the awake world. He heard him adjust his place behind him, a deep intake of breath as his eyes opened to observe his surroundings.

"Ludwig?" he called out weakly.

"Yes?"

"Where are we?"

"In Roderich's car, we're heading over to Naples right now. How are you holding up?"

It took Feliciano a while to respond back but eventually he had said "I'm okay, I just…I could have sworn we were still at Roderich's house or uh…Something like that".

"You really don't remember, I was talking to you earlier…" Ludwig trailed off, Feliciano wasn't exactly acting like himself lately, even if he was awake at that time he must have been in a half-asleep state.

Now that he thought about it, this was the first time in days he was able to hold a legit conversation with Feliciano.

"I'm sorry" Feliciano apologized, snapping Ludwig out of his thoughts.

"No, it's alright. Your sick" Ludwig brushed it off "anyway, we're heading to Naples. It will take a while but hopefully we won't get caught up in anything. Roderich gave us some food, you should eat something while you up and don't forget to take some aspirin".

Ludwig motioned to the bag beside him. Feliciano reached out for it and shuffled the items inside around.

He picked out an apple and bit into it eagerly.

"Thanks for everything by the way Ludwig" Feliciano told him "I'd definitely be dead by now if it weren't for you".

"Don't thank me yet okay, we're not exactly safe yet" Ludwig said modestly.

"But really, I knew there was something special about you the moment I saw you" Feliciano went on a thoughtful rant, "I could tell that you were a nice spirited person, though I have to admit you looked really tough and scary".

Ludwig felt his face turn hot, he didn't have to even check to know he was blushing.

"Thank you…" Ludwig said "no ones…Ya'know, complimented me".

"Why not? Your pretty good looking along with being sweet!" Feliciano blurted out.

His heart raced, hands clenched tight on the wheel. He was so thrown over that he really didn't get to respond.

"I'm sorry if I went a bit far Ludwig" Feliciano gave a sad yet still rather cheery reply, "you don't need to worry about me coming onto you. I may be gay but I can control myself if you don't feel the same way".

Was this…Was this a love confession?

"I just can't hide my feelings I guess, you saved my life after all…But that's only a little part of the reason I like you" Feliciano's speech began to slow down.

Maybe this was all because he was still in a bit of a fever daze, or were his feelings actually true for Ludwig.

He wanted to stop the car and kiss the other boy on his gentle soft lips and tell him he felt the same way, if he weren't so awkward or dare he say…A virgin.

But a part of him held him back, the part that was almost scared of loving another. Also, he wanted to make sure that it was actually Feliciano speaking and not his delusional foggy mind.

"You're just…Really special to me, Ludwig" Feliciano said before he slipped into unconsciousness once more, his half eaten apple slipping out of his hands and onto the floor.

It was concerning how fast it was for him to grow delusional and pass out after being awake for only a few minutes. He definitely had to be taken to a hospital once they were finally free from Nazi territory.

Ludwig pushed his feelings and the events that had just happened aside, what was most important was making sure he could keep Feliciano alive as well with setting him free.

**_Sorry for the shortish chapter~ ;) I'm trying to work my way through the plot but weave in the feelings between the both. Ludwig definitely likes Feliciano, but he's a bit awkward when it comes to love so he's going to take things slow, especially since Feliciano is sick :3!_**

**_I really want to thank absolutely everyone who commented on this story~ Shout outs to Rayella-san who has been sticking with this story and is kind enough to review ^_^_**

**_I always love reviews btw, i love hearing feedback from actual people and it makes me really happy :,)_**

**_You're all sweethearts._**

**_Until next update~ R & R_**


	8. Chapter 8

Ludwig had driven for the entire day, since Roderich let them off to when the sky went dark.

It was possibly around midnight or passed that time, his eyes were so sore and exhausted that the headlights didn't seem to help direct him to where he was going.

Feliciano woke up a while ago, but he was so silent that Ludwig wasn't sure if his brain had woken up with him as well.

He reached for the duffel bag again to munch on more food, so obviously he knew and remembered where he was.

A chuckle was heard behind Ludwig's seat, "Roderich packed raw broccoli, completely uncooked!" Feliciano pointed out.

"That doesn't seem like him for sure, but he was probably in a hurry" Ludwig answered "I recommend that you eat it anyway, it's good for you".

"I like broccoli, I always cooked it into baked ziti and my brother would yell at me!" Feliciano mused as he bit into it, "he hates vegetables".

Ludwig couldn't help but smile, he liked holding conversations with Feliciano. Especially when he talked about what his life was like before war took over everything.

"Ludwig, do you want some?" Feliciano held the container next to his face as he drove.

"No thanks".

Feliciano's arm reclined, he looked down in thought then offered Ludwig another suggestion. "You've been driving non-stop for the whole day, how about we pull over and sleep for a bit".

"You can go back to sleep if you want, I'm going to rest once we get to Naples" Ludwig informed him strictly.

Feliciano pouted like a child, "Come on Lud, please?". He obviously wasn't going to give up, but neither was Ludwig.

"It's a no"

"Pleeeeeeease"

"No, I'm not tired"

"Your lying!".

"Feliciano please" Ludwig groaned, a headache growing in his temples.

"You make me feel like I'm useless, I know I'm sick but you have to take care of yourself too" Feliciano admitted.

"Fine, we'll pull over. I guess we're pretty close to Venice already, but we'll have to pull over some place far from a town" Ludwig finally gave in.

Feliciano smiled brightly and contently, his feverish face showing an energetic expression that it hasn't in such a long time.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, I'm sure people have given up looking for us…" Feliciano tried to lighten the mood, but even he was not sure how good or bad their situation really was.

Ludwig pulled off the road and onto just a plain patch of grass, completely unsuspicious.

"I'm going to fill in more gas then i'll be right back" Ludwig said as he opened the car door, shamming in shut so loud that Feliciano flinched as he curled back up into his blanket.

Ludwig was thankful that Roderich had supplied them with so much, after he filled up the car with a good amount of fuel he returned to the car.

"Ludwig, lay down with me back here. It's pretty roomy" Feliciano said "I mean you can lay on the floor, or uh, I could lay on the floor if you want. I just want you to get some sleep".

"I understand Feliciano" Ludwig smiled, noticing how pure hearted the Italian's thoughts were. "I'd prefer if you slept on the cushion, I'll be fine on the floor of the car".

"Okay…" Feliciano gave a weak response "…Would you like the blanket?".

"No, you can keep it" Ludwig told him, he layer down his achy and tighten up muscles down on the uncomfortable flooring of the car. He stared up at the ceiling and at the sight he had of Feliciano above him.

His soft eyes glared down on him in slits.

"What is it?" Ludwig asked him.

"Jus' waiting for you to fall asleep" Feliciano answered "i'm not sleeping until I know you are".

"I will, I promise. It just takes me a little bit to settle down" he admitted "you, however, shouldn't strain yourself".

"You got'a pinkie promise" Feliciano let his arm fall limp down to where Ludwig lay, his hands formed into a fist with his fragile little pinkie pointed towards Ludwig.

"It's a promise" Ludwig went along with it, linking their two pinkies together.

"Goodnight Ludwig" Feliciano told him as he closed his eyes and once again became oblivious to the world.

"Good night, Feliciano" he whispered back.

However, he held onto Feliciano's hand and never let go until he found himself drifting off.

…

Ludwig woke up to the sunlight seeping through the windows of the freezing car and the soft snoring from Feliciano.

His arm lay limp on the ground just under where Feliciano's arm dangled from the seat he lay on.

Slowly, he sat up from his position, taking a quick peak at Feliciano before he crawled back into the front seat to start the car back up.

The road's were strangely abandoned, but it made sense. Who in the right mind would be traveling country across country in such a war.

Once Ludwig was back on the road he felt…uncertain if he was safe or not. Though everything appeared perfectly normal, now that he actually took the time to rest he felt unsafe.

It would have been much easier for both of them if he had just kept going and didn't stop.

Sooner of later as he went further and further into north Italy, everything around him started to look ugly.

They were in the middle of a complete revolution.

He could have sworn he heard a gunshot, screams answered right after.

"I fucking hate the axis, there I said it!" a man screamed, as Ludwig drove by he could see that the man was shot in the pelvis and was bleeding furiously.

"Shoot me again, I dare you. I fucking hate this god damn country" the man declared, his dare was answered by another loud gunshot.

North Italy was a complete mess, he couldn't blame them. With all the inhabiting Germans in their area and the betrayal of the South Italians they were definitely high on edge with both nazi supporters and resistance forces.

Feliciano was sitting up and looking outside the window with a sad (and very unlike him) expression.

"You saw that didn't you?" was all Ludwig could ask.

Feliciano gave an agreeing hum as he removed his gaze from the window and focused to what they came here for.

"We're very close to Naples now, we just have to get through florence and things should be a lot less on edge once we get into Rome" Ludwig said "then I've got to ditch my uniform somehow, maybe burn it".

"Ludwig..?" Feliciano said hesitantly, he pointed out towards the window so Ludwig looked from his own view.

All of the outside Italians marched up in complete still salute, some spit on the street below them. A car rose by them, a Military vehicle.

Outside bunches of Soldiers were lined up blocking the road, marching in their stiff postures.

Amongst them was the fuhrer himself and Benito Mussolini, together.

They had just got themselves stuck in a meeting and speech with the devilish rulers of both Italy and Germany. Worst of all they were the odd ones out, the only passerby's on the street.

"Ludwig, how are we going to drive around them?" Feliciano questioned.

"We're going to have to ditch the car and the food, god…" Ludwig concluded, "carry what you can Feliciano we're going to have to go around this".

Feliciano stuffed containers of fruits into the large inside pockets of his oversized coat he was lent by Roderich.

Ludwig parked the car at the side of a pub, as distanced from the crowd as he could get it. He was still wearing his nazi uniform, so maybe the other nazis would still just assume he was with them.

His greased back hair was loosing it's form anyway, maybe he'd look like just some ordinary blonde and blue-eyed soldier and maybe Feliciano could go easily unnoticed.

They walked around the outskirts of the buildings, in the back where absolutely no one stood. In fact, everyone's back was facing them.

They weaved around, as loud obedient 'HEIL's were screamed out into the air.

Soon they were blocked off by a massive amounts of cars parked in the same area at the back of an obviously popular house. They had to enter the crowd.

There were so many people gathering in the same place that it would be like getting lost in a maze.

Ludwig kept a tight grip on Feliciano's hand as they worked their way through.

He got a glimpse of Germany's notorious ruler, giving his speech enthusiastically in German. Benito next to him, waiting to speak to his own people, or at least the people that were stuck with him.

As they walked, they seemed to have caught the eye of a familiar soldier. A tall young man that he had run into when trying to leave Poland.

His eyes started into Ludwig's with shock but then glared with fury, not wanting to interrupted the fuhrer he whispered to his friend and they both marched into the crowd with their hands focused on the triggers of their guns.

"We have to run" Ludwig whispered to Feliciano, they worked their way past each person. Aiming for the exit of the city.

"wieder hierher kommen!" he heard the man hiss.

Once they were out by the last person letting them through, they bolted. Feliciano's poor weak legs were forced to run with the speed and strength of Ludwig's but it was at a good cost.

The man fired a gun shot that missed just by Ludwig's ear because he was unfocused and running with brute force.

Ludwig made a hard turn to the right and then passed just a few more buildings as an effort to get the two off their trail.

The man shot again, it would have hit Ludwig if Feliciano hadn't hugged his chest and threw his weight onto him to shove the both of them aside.

Without warning, Feliciano split.

The chubbier man tried to shoot him but he was too quick and dodge effortlessly and kicked the man in the throat, then as he tried to catch his breath Feliciano kicked his knee in and he fell to the floor.

As he lay there writhing in pain, Feliciano got his gun and pointed it to the man attacking Ludwig.

All of this was done in a matter of seconds.

The man however didn't know Feliciano had no idea how to work a gun, his fingers stumbled upon trying to get his hold on it right. His thumb and index fought for control of the trigger.

"Was zum Teufel?" the man questioned in horror.

"Luddy, he doesn't speak English or Italian can he?" Feliciano asked.

"I don't think so" Ludwig told him.

"When then can you translate this for me? Drop his weapon and never tell anyone about us or else" Feliciano said in his most threatening voice.

Or else didn't sound too intimidating or consequential, but that was lil' innocent Feliciano.

Ludwig loved that trait about him, he never really wanted to hurt anyone. He didn't have the heart to shoot a man.

Ludwig took the liberty of translating Feliciano's sentence into something more scary to convince them man to drop his gun, so everyone could be happy.

"Setzen Sie Ihre Waffe nach unten und erzählen Sie niemandem über uns, oder ich werde Ihren Penis schießen und lassen Sie sich von Ihrem Blutungen sterben genitales"

The man dropped his gun and put his hands in the air.

"Nun gehen" Ludwig ordered him.

The man left with a promise of telling no one about the nazi traitor and the escaped slave at the cost of escaping a possible horrible death.

Feliciano stumbled to the ground, letting in heavy breaths to let fresh air back into his lungs.

Ludwig crotched down and supported Feliciano with his arm placed around his back.

Feliciano noticed the worry look on his face and assured him, "I'm fine, just a little dizzy".

"You did good" Ludwig congratulated him "I didn't think you could fight like that".

"I did it because I had to" Feliciano said "or he would have…Killed…You" he slumped against Ludwig, completely unconscious for only a few seconds until he was able to pull himself together again.

For the first time, Ludwig noticed that his lips were tinted blue.

"I'll carry you the rest of the way, okay? Just relax Feli" Ludwig said, as he carried Feliciano in his arms as he would a new wedded wife. "Don't force yourself to stay awake, sleep is good".

Feliciano obeyed him before Ludwig could even say "just remember to wake up…".

* * *

**_I really appreciate the support I'm getting for this story! Please keep at it, I appreciate every single one of you! _**

**_Next stop, South Italy! _**

**_Finally they're almost to freedom! Hopefully Feliciano can muster the strength to stay alive until then, hopefully they're both be able to stay alive to get there on foot. _**

**_And who knows, maybe there are some new faces waiting there for us~_**


	9. Chapter 9

Feliciano was having trouble breathing, he could tell by the way his chest tried so hard to bring air through Feliciano's lungs.

If he was't extremely sick before, he was at his peak now.

His lips tinted light blue, his skin felt freezing to the touch yet his forehead burned with fever that was obviously much higher than 102.

The worst part about it was Feliciano was practically suffocating and there was nothing he could do but continue to walk, and run occasionally when he thought that the guard may have come back to shoot them again.

They were just at the edge of North Italy, and as he should have expected…There were guards waiting just at the exit.

"Stopp!" the German ordered him.

He stood completely still, Feliciano in his arms and completely defenseless.

"Was ist falsch mit Ihrem Freund da?" _(Whats wrong with your friend there?)_

Ludwig froze. He was completely exhausted and spent and had no idea how to cunningly get around these last few guards.

Freedom was so close, yet nazis stood in the way.

"Er ist…" Ludwig began, yet he couldn't finish. _(He's…)_

_"_Sie würde nicht passieren, die Nazi-Verräter sein? die, die wir schon gehört, die mit einem Sklaven entkommen?" the man questioned him. _(You wouldn't happen to be the nazi traitor now would you? The one we heard about that escaped with a slave?). _

News must have spread, he prayed that it was only the tall guard from when they left Poland that knew about them, but word must have spread.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt?" he questioned firmly.

Ludwig could only nod after hearing his name called out.

"Kommandant Kurt hat dich gesucht" the man told him _(Commander Kurt has been looking for you). _

"Ich kann nicht glauben, dass er so leicht gab" one of the other guards chuckled to his friend _(I can't believe he gave in so easily). _

It truly was too late was it. He had no energy left and Feliciano surely didn't have any strength left in him.

Freedom was truly soo close yet too far.

Ludwig took in a deep breath, it was far too late to give in. He didn't throw away all his brother was able to give him just to die in prison, he didn't kill hundreds of innocent people to get Feliciano thrown back in camp.

"You speak English?" Ludwig asked the guards.

"Yes?" the one talking to him before answered in a heavy accent.

"Then I hope you can understand this. My brother is Gilbert Beilschmidt, a trusted soldier in the nazi army. He has always _hated _their ways and he told me to keep my innocence, which unfortunately isn't something I could have kept. But I can make up for that and for what this wicked world turned into!_"._

The men all stood in silence as he continued.

Ludwig motioned towards Feliciano in his arms, "this here is prisoner 22413, he isn't fit to live in our perfect world. But I am, aren't I? I'm German, I have blonde hair and blue eyes. But you are so wrong, I sure as hell aren't perfect. Neither are you".

Angered by his statement, the man raised his gun at them.

"Are you offended now?" Ludwig questioned with a sarcastic laugh, "are you mad that I said you aren't perfect like your mommy told you. Well your mommy isn't perfect either, none of us are! But your too fucking stubborn to see that this prisoner and this traitor are better people than you! Killing doesn't make you better, but saving a life does".

As he talked Ludwig inched closer and closer, if he could disarm at least one of the three men then hopefully he would be off the hook.

"I'm not going to spare you if that's what you're asking!" the man yelled at him, readjusting his grip on his gun.

"You don't need to spare me, I'm just talking to you" Ludwig said "if you're a perfect soldier, then why can't you actually protect people like your supposed to. I'm not a danger, I'm just trying to save a life like soldiers are supposed to".

"He is a sin!" the man pointed aggressively towards Feliciano.

"Now how do you know for sure he's a sin, he hasn't done a single thing except loving everyone" Ludwig said, "and I love him too".

"W-What?" the man was caught off by what he said that Ludwig was able to kick the man's side so hard that he fell over, as he leaned over to grab the gun he was shot around the flesh area near his hip, dangerously close to his spine.

It hurt but he refused to put down Feliciano, with one hand supporting his unconscious friend and the other holding the gun, he thought about how Feliciano wouldn't want him to kill the man and shot them both in the leg.

He laid Feliciano on the ground gently, the man he knocked over was scrambling to get up so Ludwig shot him in the arm, he would have done the leg but he was too close to Feliciano for comfort.

As the man fell back again, Ludwig decided to walk up and have a chat with the two men with bullets in their leg.

He winced in pain form his own bullet wound, but his will was so much stronger.

"Now, you're not going to tell anyone else what happened here or I _will _shoot off your testicles and let you die here bleeding out of your crotch" Ludwig threatened, pointing the gun and wavering it around between the two men's legs.

They put up their hands in surrender, Ludwig gave them both another shot in the opposite leg to get his message out clear.

He let them groan and writhe in pain as he went to retrieve Feliciano who just happened to look even worse off then just minutes ago when he saw him.

His eyebrows raised in confusion and concern as he slowly walked back to where Feliciano lay, seemingly not breathing.

He was as pale as a ghost, looked half-dead already. The worst part was his lungs had apparently grown so tight that his chest barely raised at all.

"Oh gott" Ludwig mumbled out quickly gathering Feliciano in his arms and breaking through the checkpoint, far passed the men who tried to stop them.

He was finally in South Italy, the bright tall buildings and far more peaceful streets gathered around.

As Ludwig limped as fast as he could through, he could practically feel Feliciano slipping away from him.

"No, come on Feli hang on" he pleaded pathetically.

Feliciano remained unresponsive as he had for the entire pitiful day, dead to the world. He limped for miles, aching hours went by and it was all done with a body in his arms and a bullet wound.

Ludwig's bad leg gave out and he tumbled to the floor, still holding Feliciano close.

His left side burned, blood seeping out of his jacket letting the cold air attack his fragile wound.

He couldn't go on at all, he tried again and again to stand up but it was no use. All he could do was sit on the ground with his friend dying in his arms.

Absolutely no one was even near the North and South border. And to make things worse, a group of italian approached them with guns. The Italian flag wrapped around the arm band of their jacket.

"What do you got there, Nazi?" one of the men asked in a rough Italian accent.

Ludwig wasn't one to beg, but he looked into the men's eyes and full-out pleaded for his life and the life of another.

"Please, I know what it looks like. I'm not a nazi, I was but I threw away that position to save this prisoner in Auschwitz" Ludwig explained "we traveled all the way from Poland to here and we've been attacked by countless nazi soldiers. He's extremely sick and he could die if you don't help me".

The men talked among each other in Italian, obviously deciding what to do.

"H-He's Italian, like you" Ludwig mentioned "he said he thought his brother might have joined the resistance army so we thought it was best to escape to Naples, where it could be safer".

"Wait-!" one of the men shouted, making his way through the crowd.

It was a young looking man with dark brown hair and bright green eyes, yet his face looked oddly familiar to the man laying in his arms.

He looked down at Feliciano and gasped, he looked completely shocked as if the appearance of him was impossible.

"Feliciano?" he questioned.

"Yes, His name is Feliciano…Vargas" Ludwig said.

The man turned aside, his fist pressed up against his mouth as if to contain a scream…Or perhaps tears. He looked back at the two again, his eyes glistened with redness and fresh tears.

"Merda…" he choked up .

"Lovino, che cosa è sbagliato?" a man decided to check up on him, gently putting his arm around the crying man's shoulder.

Lovino quickly shook it off and announced, "take them in".

"Lovi-"

"That's my baby brother, dammit!" he exclaimed loudly.

As he and the other men approached to give Ludwig a hand, he found himself unable to keep awake.

The pain in his side faded away into numbness as everything turned black.

…

When Ludwig woke up again he was in a nice warm place. The first thing he thought about as he woke up was Feliciano, he turned to his side to see him. Sitting there with what looked like a warm cup of hot chocolate, definitely not coffee, or else he would have spelt it from where he lay.

Feliciano looked strikingly better, though his face was still red with fever and he looked absolutely exhausted, he was still sitting there well and alive.

He was sitting on the stool across from what he remembered as Lovino.

He shifted to get a better look and it quickly caught Feliciano's attention.

"Ludwig!' he exclaimed.

He handed his mug to Lovino and hopped off his stool, stumbling a bit as he raced over to where Ludwig lay in bed.

Feliciano leaned in so close to Ludwig's face that they were nearly touching noses. "Good morning Ludwig! Or, afternoon".

"Hey…Look at you, all energetic and…Conscious again" Ludwig said, his voice a bit weak and dry. It was nice seeing Feliciano awake and smiling like his usual self.

"I'm not sure what happened, but you got shot around your appendix area. Luckily it wasn't anything too important, and you recovered really quick!" Feliciano informed him "so congrats on getting your appendix out, I heard it still looked pretty healthy despite the bullet".

Ludwig didn't respond, but only smiled.

God, he missed Feliciano talking. He seemed energetic again and full of life, every word he said made complete sense and he obviously wasn't delusional anymore.

"Oh yeah! This is my brother Lovino" he pointed towards the rather grouchy looking man sitting across from them, "he found us and brought us back to Naples! We're free, Ludwig!".

Ludwig couldn't help but chuckle at the false information Feliciano came up with. Obviously he missed out on a lot of the trip to South Italy and probably pieced together what made sense to him.

Lovino bobbed his head as a sign of hello but he didn't smile, obviously he still wasn't too fond of Ludwig.

"Do you want something to drink, or eat?" Feliciano offered him.

"Just water would be great" Ludwig told him.

Feliciano ran off, leaving Ludwig laying in bed alone with no one else in the room but Lovino.

"I still don't trust you" Lovino announced "you're still a German, and Germans are all nazis to me".

"But-" he began on a lighter tone "you saved my brother, so thank you. Can I ask how he contracted such an illness though, he was half dead when we treated him and his heart nearly failed. Though the kid is running around like every things fine, he's still got a pretty bad fever".

"He got sick while in the concentration camp, they treat people like shit there" Ludwig answered "I already had intentions of getting him out, but then he really got sick and I decided it was the right time".

"You sacrificed your position as a nazi for him?" Lovino questioned, "what exactly does he mean to you?".

"Everything" Ludwig answered simply.

Feliciano came back in and knelt beside him on the floor, "can you sit up, Lud?".

Ludwig answered that with a nod and by pulling himself up out of bed. His injury still stung, his flitch brought worry to Feliciano's face who gently handed him the bottled water as if he was worried one false move would mess everything up.

"Feli, do yourself a favor and quit running around the house" Lovino talked to his brother "you've still got a fever of 101 degrees".

"Va bene, Fratello" Feliciano obeyed in his native language, climbing up and sitting back on the stool again. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly, though he was wearing a large jacket that most likely belonged to Lovino, he was still noticeably cold due to poor body weight.

"If you feel up to it, join us for dinner" Lovino said "you and Feliciano really need to get some food in you, Feli you just stay here with him. When you start to feel better you and me can cook together again…Like old times".

Though Ludwig sensed a bit of brotherly love in that last sentence, Lovino still seemed cold as ice to Feliciano. Is this really the big brother he favored so much?

"Lovino…Seems interesting" Ludwig told him.

Feliciano giggled, "he's just like that. But really, he's not a bad guy. He just isn't the best at expressing his feelings. You should have seen him this morning, he cries when he's really happy and he was sobbing once I woke up with him next to me. I was crying too!".

Feliciano's bright smile had a hint of sadness to it, he was separated from family and trapped in hell for so long…It must have really been something special to wake up from such a bad fever to see his long lost big brother.

"I guess I could say I'm like him too, except I'm the little brother" Ludwig added "my older brother coddled me so much that I would always push him away, but I loved him anyway".

"I hope you get to see him again too" Feliciano said, lightening up with room with his positive vibes.

"I think you'd like him, he's very enthusiastic and loves to meet new people" Ludwig explained with passion, "he's hard to miss, he's albino".

"Albino?"

"Bright white hair and red eyes"

"Wow! People can actually look like that!" Feliciano jumped in excitement.

"Yeah, but he burns really bad in the sun and he has a few health issues but he's been able to work through them" Ludwig said.

"I defiantly want to meet him. Anyone related to Ludwig has to be great!"

Oh god, here goes the blushing again.

"Hey…Feli?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you…Remember our car ride, when we left Austria and we were on the road for basically a whole day?".

Feliciano tried to dig back into his memories, "uh…Bits and pieces".

"Well, you and I were talking for a bit before you fell asleep again and you said…You had…_Feelings _for me" Ludwig tried to explain.

Feliciano's eyes grew wide and his face red from either embarrassment or the fever, "I-I did…".

"Yeah, and I just wanted to consent with you to make sure that's how you really feel" Ludwig said.

Feliciano's eyes wandered around the room for something else to focus on, nervousness grew in his chest.

"I'm not going to be mad and I won't hate you, I just want to know okay?" Ludwig confirmed.

With a deep breath, Feliciano answered "yes, Ludwig. I do kinda…Sorta…Like you, a lot".

"Okay-"

"I'm really sorry! I had no idea that came out of my mouth and I'm really, really sorry!" Feliciano cut him off with various apologizes.

"Feli, calm down! I was just checking because I…Think I return your feelings" Ludwig said, that instantly put an end to Feliciano's aggressive apologizing.

"I care about you a lot, and ever since I met you digging outside in the quarries I knew you were something special. You changed my life for the better, Feliciano. You gave me a whole new understand of the world and what perfection really is, It's not being German or having blonde hair and blue eyes. It's being a person like you, you're absolutely perfect, Feliciano and I'm completely in love with you".

Feliciano gave a huge smile and dived in to hug Ludwig with full force, despite what his brother told him, he wrapped his arms around Ludwig and made sure to be gentle.

While sitting in Ludwig's lap and arms locked around his neck, Feliciano reached in to kiss Ludwig gently on the lips.

No frenching, no clothes removal, nothing extreme of the sorts. Just an adorable little long-lasting connection of their two lips. Gentle and beautiful.

After they released the kiss, Feliciano discovered just how cute Ludwig could be. His face was bright red.

"You're probably going to get pneumonia now" Feliciano laughed apologetically.

"No I won't, I've got a tough immune system" Ludwig informed him "and uh…".

"What is it?"

"That was my…"

Ludwig tried to stare and something else but wherever he looked he always ended up meeting Feliciano's gaze.

"Tell me!" Feliciano demanded playfully.

"That was my first kiss…Ever".

"You're kidding!" Feliciano laughed "but you're twenty, Lud! _And _your super handsome, how am I the first one?".

"You just are, okay. Stop teasing me" Ludwig grumbled in shame.

Feliciano leaned in and whispered to him, "I'm glad I'm the first one~".

Him and Feliciano were free.

Free and in Love.

Yet the troubles they had to face were still growing.

* * *

**_It's not over yet~ theres a lot more plot to this story than just escaping! It's a miracle I finished this in one day I swear, my arm hurts. This was a good way of venting for me, I was a bit upset today so I had this chapter to distract me! ^_^_**

**_Don't forget to read and review! :3 _**


	10. Chapter 10

"So tell me, are you two like…Together-together?" Lovino asked, glaring at his brother and the ex-nazi soldier from across the small three-seated table.

"Um…" Feliciano turned to Ludwig as if he needed confirmation, "Y-Yes?".

"I've gotta warn you, don't make anything public. This is safer then most places but isn't the safest" Lovino advised "in fact, did you know North Italy made a secret surrender?".

"They did?" questioned Ludwig.

"Yes, they can't deal with the Germans anymore. They're surrounded by troops however, so the American and British air force is going to fly in and the Italian resistance army here in Naples are going to fight off German troops so we can take North Italy back. They've got to go back to their own god damn land!" Lovino announced with passion.

"Did Mussolini actually agree to the surrender?" Feliciano asked.

"Hell no, he's been in jail for months leaving the government on their own. Like hell, once this war is over the Italian are definitely throwing that bastard off his position! He really is no better then Hitler" Lovino said.

"We saw him earlier though, in North Italy" Germany added.

"Hitler bailed him out, they were celebrating I bet" Lovino assumed logically, "anyway, just you watch. This war is going to end one piece of land at a time. Getting North Italy back is like one more helping hand for the allies".

"Then It'll nearly be over!" Feliciano sung out.

"That's right" Lovino flashed a smile, the look in his eyes resembled one of someone who was staring upon someone they've missed their whole life. That was probably exactly how Lovino felt.

While Feliciano dug into dinner, Ludwig remained ready for more information.

"I tried to make sure other soldier's wouldn't report us, but publicity probably spread far too fast. I'm sure they're looking for Feliciano and me" Ludwig said.

"No shit they are, a nazi traitor and an escaped prisoner. You guys are probably worth a lot of money in my book" Lovino told him bluntly, "but I won't let them. I haven't seen my brother in months and I'm not going to let them take him away from me again. And you, well, Feli seems attached to you so he'd probably whine if I didn't protect you too".

"Hey!" Feliciano whined almost on queue.

"Eat up" Lovino ordered him.

They finished off dinner and retired off to bed.

Ludwig settled down in the Vargas's guest room, and by guest room it was their grandfather's room. There were old portraits and recent photos probably taken before he passed.

He looked like a lively young man, resembled a lot of Lovino but had Feliciano's bright smile.

Ludwig was mid-way through drifting off when he heard a creak from the door.

"Luddy?" came a whisper.

Ludwig rolled over, cautious of his wound, to see who it was.

Feliciano stood before him in very baggy pajamas that looked like they could have fit him perfectly before he happened to get mixed up in the holocaust. He was shivering just from the room temperature, which wasn't good.

"I'm…Uh" he shook with nervousness, "I'm kinda too scared to sleep alone…".

Ludwig shifted to the right side of the bed, offering Feliciano his warm left side.

Feliciano graciously hopped in and snuggled close next to him.

"I know it sounds pathetic, I just don't want to be alone. I feel like the soldiers will pop out of nowhere and drag me away…" Feliciano explained "and hit me…and torture me".

"It'll be okay Feli, that chapter of your life is over now" Ludwig told him, awkwardly throwing his arm over Feliciano to hug him tight to his own body.

"I'm not bugging you?"

"No, you're not"

"Okay-" he was interrupted by a cough which he tried his best to cover from Ludwig, "S-Sorry!".

"No, it's okay. You're still under the weather" Ludwig assured him "but we're safe, and with your brother, and you're going to get better, and then we can live peacefully here".

"You'd stay with me?"

"Of course I would…After all" Ludwig told him while he slowly drifted to sleep.

"I've got no where else to go".

…

Ludwig woke up late.

He knew this because the sun had already lighten up the entire room.

Luckily for him he wasn't the sleepy head, Feliciano was still asleep curled up next to him.

He took the opportunity of checking his temperature while he was still asleep and found that Feliciano's fever was practically gone.

Ludwig rose from bed with the creaking of the springs and tussle of the blankets. He tossed the blankets from his side over Feliciano to keep him warm and left to prepare for the morning and to fix his bandage.

It healed pretty fast for a bullet wound, that was because of whoever his mystery doctor was stitched it up perfectly. He had to thank that man or woman for saving his life, he felt a little upset he wasn't able to keep conscious that day to even see their face.

Ludwig retreated to the kitchen to find that he was really the first one up. So he sat down and checked the radio for any updates. There was a television there but he doubted there would be anything on there, during the war they stopped receiving much.

Lovino eventually got up, the first thing he did was take out his coffee beans for brewing.

"Good morning!" Ludwig greeted him.

"Great good fucking morning" Lovino mumbled "Is Fel still asleep?"

"Yeah, He's still pretty exhausted so I left him be. His fever is nearly gone now though" Ludwig said.

"He's going to be hyper today then, you know that?" Lovino grumbled just at the thought of it.

Ludwig couldn't help but laugh, "yeah I know. Oh, can I use you're phone. I gotta call a friend to let him know we got over here okay".

"Sure, it's over there" Lovino motioned towards the dining room which was right of where the kitchen and connected living room was.

It was on it's own little table stand. Ludwig spun the dial around and awaited to be directed towards Roderich.

_"__Hallo?" _

"Roderich? It's me, Ludwig!"

_"__Oh thank heavens, you're okay! Where are you?" _

"In Naples, we found Feliciano's brother and he's doing a lot better now. I thought you'd like to know!"

_"__I'm very thankful you two are okay. Ludwig, I'm glad you called…I have some news". _

The serious in his tone was terrifying.

"What is it?" Ludwig asked hesitantly.

_"__The army sent me a letter addressing Gilbert, since I'm the closest to family you two have and…Ludwig, your brother died in battle. I'm sorry". _

Ludwig was at a complete loss of words, his reaction was so delayed that Roderich grew concern.

_"__Ludwig, please say something!"_

"I never got to say goodbye, oh god…" Ludwig sobbed.

Lovino noticed this and rushed towards the bedroom areas, "Feli!" he called out.

Ludwig sat himself down on the floor, the phone's cable went down with him. Feliciano eventually came into the room with him, exhausted looking with dark circles noticeably under his eyes. He knelt and hugged Ludwig as hard as his arms could manage to squeeze him.

"Luddy, I think you should put down the phone. Okay?" he suggested gently. He took the phone and answered it.

"Hello mr. Roderich" Feliciano sweetly replied, "yes I'm doing fine, but about Ludwig-…Oh…Well I'm really sorry for your losses. We'll keep in touch with you okay? Ludwig just needs some time".

Feliciano turned back, his eyes filled with innocent worry.

At this point, Ludwig was gathering himself together just as he alway had.

"Lud, are you going to be okay?" Feliciano asked.

Ludwig whipped the stray tears from his eyes, "yes I will, my brother didn't teach me to mourn forever but to honorably remember. He may have died a nazi but…But at least a few people out there who know he wasn't just that".

"I know he wasn't" Feliciano chimed in.

"I'm an eye, or ear-witness too I guess" added Lovino.

"I'll be so glad once this is over…" Ludwig sighed, "it won't be the same without him but it'll be a new start".

* * *

**_Sorry this chapter is short and took me so long -_- writers block along with personal issues. I hope I got the historical facts right, if I didn't please tell me X,D I'm usually pretty good with history but it's tricky to remember every little thing that happened in the war, especially in Italy. _**

**_But here we go~ Gil didn't get too much of a cameo but he was still important to the plot in Ludwig's development. _**

**_Rest in peace Gil! :,3_**

**_Please review, favorite, ect.~ and thank you!_**


	11. Chapter 11

No one, not even Roderich, knew how Gilbert died. It was just said that he was dead and his body was identified.

He had no one to go home to unfortunately, an 'honorable nazi soldier' wouldn't go back to the nazi traitor known as Ludwig.

Roderich was still trying to stay his best outside the war in Austria.

For now, he would remain at the Vargas house hold and wait until the whole war would blow over.

Feliciano still yearned to help the others still trapped at Auschwitz, though he was a dreamer he was a rather practical person. He knew that could never be done and it was a miracle he escaped and survived.

"Today is the day the Italian resistance army storms into North Italy to take back the rest of our people" Lovino announced "so I've gotta get going".

Lovino patted his little brother on the back and gave him a hug, "I love you Feli, Don't worry too much. I'll come back".

He then turned to Ludwig and gave at first an angry glare that shifted into a look of respect.

"Take care of him, German. Then you'll really earn your stay here" Lovino told him.

With that, he left with his guns and iron will.

Ludwig and Feliciano were left to wait out the war in their comfortable freedom. Feliciano was horribly uneasy, he was just freshly recovered from pneumonia yet the scars from the holocaust and the agonizing trip to Naples still lasted.

Ludwig could tell he was trying to hold it all in, for Ludwig had lost his brother without a goodbye.

"Feli, just talk to me about how you feel okay?" Ludwig said "Don't bottle everything up, I want to hear about whatever is bothering you".

"I'm just…Remembering stuff" Feliciano said "About the time before I meant you, the long few agonizing months I spent in labor, just digging outside in the quarries. And how if you hadn't ordered me out of the line that day I would have been dead".

He continued on with Ludwig's full attention.

"The little boy I shared a bed with, and how he was gone like that just the next day. The pneumonia the clogged up my mind, made me useless…Nearly killed me…Got you shot".

"Feli, you were sick. That was not your fault at all"

"I could have done more for you!" Feliciano cried out "I could have…I could have just fucking woke up…I've been so out of it the past few days, but after seeing your bullet wound I started to piece things together and…God, the trouble I put your though".

Ludwig grasped Feliciano's shoulders and looked him in the eye, "It was worth it. The bullet and everything. It was all worth it for you I promise, it would have all been for nothing if I didn't get you your freedom. I love you _so _much".

"I-, Ludwig-"

"Ever since I met you, Feliciano. I knew you were something special, and I knew I had to do whatever I could to save you" Ludwig said "It was worth _everything"._

"Ludwig!" Feliciano sobbed, falling into a tight embrace with the German.

They held each other through the distance gun shots and bombs, and even through the night until Lovino walked back through the door covered in blood and dirt.

"We're free" he said.

They were, they truly were.

Gilbert had asked him to keep his innocence and he failed, but saving Feliciano seemed to redeem him even for the lives he had to end.

Feliciano would no longer dig in the quarries, but outside as they began to plant a garden.

Ludwig would no longer guard him on the other side of a barbed wire, for he would simply be keeping a watch of his husband and make sure he didn't get himself killed.

Yep, life was good outside of Auschwitz.

Life was good.

**_The end. _**


End file.
